The Little Details
by hayunaki
Summary: Onodera and Takano have now been in a relationship since they graduated from college together. Though, while both have made individual successes in their careers and are happily living together, there are just some things that are often left unsaid, which can lead to some interesting new details that the couple learn about each other. (deviates a bit from canon timeline)
1. Chapter 1

**self-indulgent drabble :3c**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.**

 **written at 2am so spelling/grammer may be terribad im sorry**

* * *

"You know, out of all the years I've known you, not once did we talk about our high school days." Masamune pointed out suddenly, leaning against the brunet who was standing beside him.

It was a slow Saturday morning for the couple, and it was already late morning by the time they both had gotten out of bed and prepared something to eat. Now, Masamune was simply resting against Ritsu whilst he washed the dishes, waiting for the chance to dry them and put them away.

"Mm, well, high school honestly wasn't a great time for me." Ritsu had to admit, though he didn't want to explain how much his experiences with love in high school had changed him, but since it was so long ago, did it really matter? Right now, he was happy with Masamune, and he loved him more than anything else. Everything is perfect; at least that's what he liked to think.

' _Though I think we're a better off couple than others. It's not like we have some misunderstandings that are simply swept under the rug. We always communicate and express honestly what we feel.'_ Ritsu mused quietly, humming softly as he rinsed the plates.

"Really? High school was alright, if I had to be honest. Had its ups and downs,"

"Along with teenage hormones and emotions, right?" Ritsu added on, smiling as he moved away from the raven and looked up at him. "I can't imagine you being a very temperamental teen. Though that would be entertaining."

"I was pretty quiet, if I remember correctly. I spent time reading books when I didn't have any classes."

"Of course, what else was I expecting from you." Ritsu teased, laughing a little when he felt Masamune shove him a little.

"Oh yeah, as if you aren't the same as me." The taller challenged, leaning in to press a sneaky kiss to the tip of his lover's ear, earning a slight yelp from the shorter.

"You always have to pull those kinds of things on me!" Ritsu exclaimed, though he personally wasn't bothered by it, in fact welcoming it as they came. "But, you are right. I did spend a lot of time in the library, reading, studying…" Ritsu could recall a faint memory by sitting beside a particular senpai, though he could no longer remember what he looked like. But he paid no heed to it, not wanting to dwell on old memories of the past. _'It's not like I'm hung up over him. Sure, he hurt me and it did change who I was immensely, but I've learned to accept it as an obstacle to get over. And to be fairly honest…'_ Ritsu placed the plates on the dish rack, summoning Masamune over to clean them once he noticed that their pet cat distracted the raven. _'I'm very happy where the change has brought me now.'_

"Sorata's getting fatter each day, I swear we need to cut the portions that he eats."

"Well, we have to do it gradually of course. We're not letting him starve himself." Ritsu reminded, knowing how strict the older could get on the cat. _'Come to think of it, didn't my senpai have a cat like this as well? Or am I just remembering things wrong?'_ Before Ritsu could dwell on this, the brunet found himself hitting Masamune playfully upon feeling the sensation of a towel striking his bottom.

"God, stop screwing around!" Ritsu laughed as he snatched the towel off the raven and hit him with it. "Do your job properly, Mr. Editor-in-chief."

"Oh, you would love to see me sacked. After all, less competition for you, Mr. Head of Onodera Publishing." Masamune teased, pulling the brunet in for a chaste kiss before proceeding to dry the plates.

"Anyway, I'm still heavily curious about what you did in high school. Any sports? Club activities? Music?" The raven pressed on, leaving Ritsu with no choice but to sit by the island and reflect a little on the past.

"I used to participate in club activities, like board games or reading. I liked sports but I wasn't active enough to be heavily competitive in it, so I lost motivation pretty quickly. As for music…well, I used to play the piano as a kid?"

"Wow, my boyfriend can serenade me. How romantic." Ritsu rolled his eyes at the comment, chuckling as he rested his chin on his hand.

"I don't think I'm that good of a player anymore. It's been like, what? Over ten years now?"

"True, though, if I were to pick up a violin, I'm sure I could play something simple." The brunet's curiosity was piqued the moment Masamune mentioned him playing any sort of instrument, and noticing it, Masamune continued to elaborate.

"My parents put me through violin lessons since I was a little kid. Kept doing so all the way up to high school. It was private lessons at home. Though as I got older, the lazier I became, and in the end my parents just stopped it altogether."

"Huh…"

"Yeah, my parents loved me for a little while. Shocker." Ritsu could only laugh at the comment the raven made and waved a hand in front of him in dismissal, as if saying that he wasn't thinking about that idea. "You really should get in contact with them again, though."

"No, no, definitely not. I would probably crack the shits at them, and maybe destroy their belongings. And burn their houses."

"Ooookay…then I take back my offer." Wanting to change topics, Ritsu decided to press further about Masamune's experience in high school. "So, sports?"

"Basketball. I was decent, plus my stature was really good for the team, but I couldn't bring myself to give a shit. Was fun though."

"Hmm, what about club activities?"

"Why do that when you can read in the library? Most of the time, I didn't really like talking to other people, only communicating when necessary."

"Jeez…antisocial much?"

"Lazy is a better term."

"Does that apply to studies?"

"Yeah. I didn't do much of my homework, but I did listen in class. Concepts were easy to pick up so I had no problems doing tests or exams."

"So you're secretly a genius?"

"Only in maths. I would shoot myself if I find a godforsaken history question on a test. Christ that was hell."

"What? History is interesting!" Ritsu retorted, slapping his hands down against the surface.

"You're weird then." The raven stated simply. Ritsu huffed as he slumped back down to his seat. Masamune watched him in the corner of his eye and smiled, placing the last dish away before resting himself against the island opposite to his boyfriend. "Kidding, you know I fell for your weird side."

"That doesn't make it any better."

"It makes you special to me."

"Nope, doesn't help."

"I prioritise you more than anyone else."

"Do you like to lie like this to your authors on a daily basis?"

"Ouch, that burns, love."

"Bite me."

"Please." Masamune smiled while Ritsu simply rolled his eyes once again and grabbed at the raven's shirt and pulled him closer to kiss him briefly.

"I still love you though."

"Glad to hear that I'm still important." The taller chuckled, leaning back and running a hand through his hair. "But well, aside from that, the commute to school was rather easy for me. I lived nearby so I usually just walked."

"Ahh, same for me." Ritsu agreed, before recalling on an old memory. Before he could reconsider telling his boyfriend the story, Ritsu began, "Ah, that reminds me. I remember coming back to school to give an umbrella to a…friend of mine." He quickly rephrased, not wanting to delve further into any _senpai_ business.

"Wait, seriously? Going home from school then coming back?"

"Yup."

"Love, I appreciate that dedication." Ritsu just laughed at the seriousness and sighed.

"Nah, it was pretty stupid."

"Hmm, well, it does remind me of something similar that happened to me. Though I can't quite remember it, but the person definitely came from home to give me an umbrella."

"That's way too coincidental. Are you sure I'm not that person?" Ritsu teased, resting his chin on his hand once again. "We might've gone to the same school, you never know."

"I enrolled into (xxx) school, the one with the junior high school being joined with the senior one."

"Oh, holy shit. I went there too." Ritsu slowly admitted, excitement bubbling up at the prospect of having his lover enrolled at the same school as him whilst they were young. "That means we could've passed by each other! Isn't that cool?"

"Wow, must be fate." Masamune smiled, before falling into contemplation. "No, but seriously, I should've _at least_ seen you like— _once_ , or twice, even. You read in the library, and so did I. We should've crossed paths somehow."

"School assemblies?" The brunet suggested.

"Too many people filing out, I wouldn't have seen you unless I knew you specifically." At this response, Ritsu recalls the stuff he had brought into the apartment, particularly his old yearbooks.

"Wait, let me show you a picture of me when I was around 15."

"I'm ready for any baby Ritsu photos." The taller started, pulling out his phone and grinning widely, receiving a long sigh from the brunet.

"I looked far too innocent back then, what about you? Any photos?"

"I had one somewhere in my photo gallery on my phone. Let me get it, and you can get your photos." The raven suggested, letting Ritsu go and find his yearbooks while he scrolled through many images in his gallery.

Within a few minutes, the couple could only stare at each other's photos, as they exclaimed in unison,

"Oh my god."


	2. Chapter 2

**It was supposed to be a one shot lol but I guess another chapter won't hurt**

* * *

A few hours have lapsed since the couple had made a startling revelation the moment they saw each other's photos. After that incident, they couldn't bring themselves to look at the other, lest hold a proper conversation.

' _God…this is so awkward…'_ Ritsu lamented as he rested on the couch, reading a little whilst Masamune busied himself in the kitchen, unknowing of the fact that similar thoughts were running through Masamune's head as well.

' _Honestly…what were the chances that my boyfriend turned out to also be my ex from high school…'_ Masamune pondered as he prepared lunch for the two of them. _'Honestly, back then, I had a few choice words for him if he ever came back after disappearing off the face of the earth, but now…'_

Sneaking a glance over to the brunet, Masamune noticed how Ritsu's shoulders were slumped, his head hanging low whilst reading his book. Masamune frowned, knowing that the posture too well. He often encountered it when Ritsu was working too hard, stressed and tired, but unable to take a break.

' _I just want to talk normally again, before all of this happened.'_

"Hey,"

"Uh-ah—yes?" Ritsu stuttered out, immediately shutting his book and facing the raven, in which Masamune also turned to look at him. Noticing how fast the brunet shut his book and placed it to the side, he wondered briefly if the shorter was reading at all.

"Do—" A sigh.

"Ah—I mean—"

"No, no, I—"

"S-sorry—"

"Wait." Masamune raised a hand. Resting against the bench, he ran a hand restlessly through his hair as he gazed at Ritsu.

"For now, I want to have lunch with you. I'd rather we settle this out after we've eaten. So, in saying that…"

"Just be…normal?" Ritsu finished, receiving a nod in response from the raven-haired male.

"Please." The taller added, eyes averted to the ground. "I know there's a lot of questions we both have, but I don't want to get into an argument about this. Ritsu, I love you. There's no changing that, no matter what happened in the past. I just want to spend time with you, like we always do—"

A laugh erupted from the brunet.

Masamune cut himself, a frown forming on his features. _'You don't have to be an ass about it.'_

"No, no," Ritsu started, answering his boyfriend's thoughts inadvertently. "It's funny, how you want to talk about this later, but you're putting it in the open now." He smiled. "This is why we always go about things in the wrong order, you always want to address things _now_ , and then you lose yourself cause you don't know what's supposed to come next—"

" _Sorry_ that I have a bad habit of jumping the gun sometimes…"

"You've _always_ been jumping the gun, even from the moment I first met you." He chuckled. "Well, the first time I met you since high school. How about you do things the right way, for once?" The brunet teased.

"Okay, okay, _mother_. I'll do it properly." Masamune dramatically sighed, hearing another laugh come from Ritsu, in which the older smiled. They fell into comfortable silence, gazing at each other, until Ritsu broke the silence again.

"Speaking of properly, are you going to tend to that pot or are you just going to let our lunch burn?"

"Oh, _fuck_ me."

* * *

"It's not bad, Masamune." Ritsu reassured, smiling as he ate some more. "You fixed it as best as you could, and honestly it's much better than what I could try to do."

"Still tastes kind of strange to me, are you sure your tastebuds are working?" The brunet rolled his eyes at the comment before eating some more.

"Well, you wanted to make this for me, right? And I like it. So there you have it."

"Who said I was making this for you? Self-centred much?" The taller snickered behind his hand at the glare he got from the other.

"Don't be a little shit."

"Aw, come on, I was just pulling your leg."

"You weren't like this back whe—haaa…nevermind." The brunet continued to eat as the raven gazed at him, before letting his gaze fall back into his plate. Silence ensued the pair, the clinking of utensils filling up the empty space between them as they kept their eyes to their food. But it wouldn't stay like that if Masamune had something to say about it.

"…I know I said I wanted to talk about it afterwards…but, there's a lot of things I want to ask you—"

"I have a lot of questions too." Emerald eyes rose up from the table to look back into amber ones, thinking fleetingly. "I guess…I don't know you as well as I thought I did." Ritsu admitted slowly, laughing softly, averting his eyes to his food once again. "Honestly, I don't know if that was a good thing, considering our situation. If I didn't forget you and realised who you were much sooner, 'would I be living a life like this right now?', is what I was thinking." Hearing no response from his partner after that, Ritsu decided to keep to himself and opted to finish his meal quickly.

Usually, the silence was welcoming, since the pair needed that down time to gather their thoughts and reflect on things. But for Ritsu, he figured that if he spent another second sitting across from Masamune, he'd probably start saying things that he would regret.

And especially with painful memories suddenly appearing before him, old wounds reopened afresh and threatened to tear him apart, forcing him to swallow down his emotions as he realised it became too much.

Placing his chopsticks down, Ritsu abruptly got up, gathering his plates and making his way to the kitchen.

"Ritsu, I'll wash this time." Masamune started, noticing his lover's agitation, standing up to move in front of the younger and hold his hand out for the dish, but the younger refused and walk around, stopping shortly after making a few steps.

"I-I'm sorry, as much as I didn't want it to, but you being…it's…bringing up bad memories." Ritsu started slowly, his back facing the raven. "…I want to have some time alone."

"…alright."

Masamune feared that their circumstances would bring them to this, where they couldn't look at each other the same way despite being together for so long. His heart sunk when Ritsu asked to be alone, but he let him, not wanting to hurt him further. If he was honest with himself, he couldn't bring himself to look at Ritsu without feeling a sense of betrayal from what had happened between them as students, and felt terrible when he realised that a part of him wanted to blame Ritsu for everything.

"You just finish your own meal, and hand me your dish when you're done." Ritsu finished softly as he disappeared into the kitchen, the sounds of running water and the clinking of dishes faintly resonating in the apartment as Masamune returned to the table.

* * *

' _We were doing so well, and even this morning too, so why…?'_ Ritsu sighed as he dried the last dish and put it away, reluctant to walk back into the dining area and realised that Masamune wasn't anywhere to be found. Ritsu recalled that once Masamune handed his dishes over to the brunet, he had left for their bedroom without a word. _'He's probably in the shower.'_

Ritsu sighed softly, shuffling over to the couch and sat down, noticing the discarded yearbook he had given the raven to look at. He bit at his tongue, willing himself to calm down, lest he start thinking of the past. Despite that, he grabbed the yearbook and flicked through, coming to a stop at Masamune's class photo, letting his eyes linger on the image.

' _It's probably getting to him too.'_ The brunet frowned, letting his eyes fall onto his name.

' _Really, how did I not realise it was him sooner…? He even told me his parents divorced too, so why didn't I ask him earlier what his former name was?'_ Unknowingly, he gripped the book in his hands, eyes no longer focusing on anything.

' _Honestly, I even said so strongly that I was never going to fall in love with him again, and I had hated him for so long…'_

' _I even thought ill of him just so I could move on, and went as far as to try and suppress any memory of him.'_

' _And still, I'm still the same idiot.'_

Ritsu didn't know whether he wanted to be angry with himself or at Masamune, or break down and cry out of frustration, or yell and throw a tantrum and say that he wasn't at fault. Too many thoughts swirled in his head and emotions began to well up in his chest. He honestly wanted to destroy something, or himself, just _anything_ , but he couldn't think, and found that breathing appeared to be difficult as he began to wring the yearbook he held in his hands, on the verge of tearing it, until—

" _Ritsu._ "

A warm weight fell against him and strong arms embraced him tightly, before hands came around to clasp his, and warm lips pressed gentle kisses from his neck down to his shoulder.

"Breathe,"

Ritsu blinked a few times, a shimmer of tears dropping down onto the clasped hands as he took in a shaky breath, his throat stuttering a few times as he let out a choked sob.

"Slowly,"

He swallowed back a lump in his throat, shakily gripping Masamune's hands in his own as he inhaled slowly through his nose, and exhaled slowly from his lips. Ritsu felt himself trembling slightly against the raven, noticing how Masamune occasionally squeezed his shaking hands to ease him. Suddenly remembering his train of thoughts earlier, Ritsu tried to apologise to the raven.

"I-I'm—"

"Don't talk, just breathe." Masamune interrupted softly, resting his head on the brunet's shoulder as Ritsu's breathing ease into a gentle rhythm and his hands were still. The raven still opted to hold the brunet, laying back on the couch and letting Ritsu lie on top of him, running a hand across the brunet's back.

They laid there like that for a long while, and Masamune made no move to ask anything of the brunet. After leaving the shower while drying his hair, he noticed how the brunet was sitting on the couch, the yearbook in hand and recalled the photo that he was looking at was his class photo. It didn't take long to piece together what Ritsu was thinking the moment he began to tremble, breath coming short, and placed his towel to the side and rushed over to his side.

"I'm sorry." Masamune was drawn out of his thoughts by the soft apology the brunet had made, and sighed and let his fingers run through brunet locks.

"Don't. You're not doing yourself any good by dwelling on things that happened in the past." He emphasised, amber eyes watching his lover rest on top of him.

"…but still—"

"You were overthinking again, and you stressed yourself over it. You got caught up in thinking about us back in high school that you didn't even realise you were hurting yourself because of it."

Ritsu didn't say anything in response, and the raven decided to continue, letting his legs get tangled up with his partner's as they grew more comfortable on the couch.

"Ritsu, I know. I know you have a lot of questions about what happened to us before, because I do as well. I know that the way we broke up probably was sudden and let unwanted feelings manifest within ourselves, but the only way of getting through this without destroying what we have now is if we move on. I know you're probably gearing up to punch me across the face, but it won't solve anything. Listen, even if you think differently of me now, my feelings for you still haven't changed. It's you who I want to be with." Upon hearing no response from the other, Masamune turned around so that Ritsu was lying against the couch and the raven loomed over him. However in that instant, Ritsu raised his arms up to rest over his face.

"Look at me." Masamune demanded in a hard tone, raising a hand to tug at Ritsu's arm, but received a hard shove in return. Clicking his tongue, he roughly pulled Ritsu's hands away and pinned them beside his head. Keeping his expression calm, Masamune watched on quietly as Ritsu glared at him with tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

"Don't tell me to move on unless you've experienced what I have."

"We're not turning this into a 'whose experience was more worse' game—"

"Don't act so high and mighty about it as if you haven't been affected!"

"I'm saying this _because_ we're both affected from this! I don't want to turn this into an argument, okay? I don't want to spend my time trying to push the blame and guilt onto one person! Look, we're both hurting from this, and I'm not gauging whose pain was worse because of the fact that we both suffered in our own ways. But I don't want this to be the reason why our relationship falls apart. I love you, alright? And I'll be damned if I let this get out of hand and lose you again."

"Lose you… _again_?" Ritsu trailed off. Masamune stayed silent, letting the brunet realise and snap at the raven. You piece of shit, don't tell me you—"

"You're assuming things again. I didn't know. But I had a slight feeling." Masamune sighed, letting his head hang low slightly. "I grew suspicious the moment you had called off your arranged marriage with your fiancée and how you said you had travelled overseas to finish high school. My suspicions weren't confirmed until just today."

Ritsu gritted his teeth. "You're the worst—"

"Shut up. Making assumptions and throwing insults at me won't solve anything." Lapsing into silence for a short while, the raven began to continue.

"Remember when we were in university, when I didn't meet up with you for a couple of weeks? And when I did, I always had a bad mood, which you brushed off as stress from studying?" Masamune asked, amber eyes gazing into emerald ones.

It didn't take long for Ritsu to pick up on what he meant. "You mean…you were upset at me?"

"I was. Even though it was only small hints, and I was probably overthinking things, at the time, I couldn't help but think that you could've been the same Ritsu from high school, and my anger blinded me. I wanted to remind you of how I had felt when you left me, but I realised how stupid of me to think like that. When I saw you trying your best to cheer me up, even though you were the cause of my pain, and how much you wanted to see me smile again, I realised I wasted so much time mulling over the past and what could've been, and how much I wanted to get back at you for hurting me. On top of that, I got pissed off at myself because I thought that if you weren't _Oda Ritsu_ , I was practically getting angry at my boyfriend for no reason, and was nearly on the verge of dumping them because of harboured feelings from the past that I refuse to let go of."

"So you're saying that that's what I'm doing right now." Ritsu stated, rather than questioned. Masamune confirmed with a nod, receiving a dry laugh from the brunet underneath him.

"God, I want to deny it and tell you you're just assuming things left and right, but you nailed it on the head and honestly I want to strangle you for it." Despite the threat, the raven found himself smiling, letting his grip come loose on Ritsu's wrists and leaned down to rest his head in the crook of the brunet's shoulder. A soft 'ow' was the response Ritsu received as he landed a fist down against Masamune's head as he let out a loud sigh.

"I really fucking hate you sometimes. That and the fact that I now know you were _Saga-senpai_ also really pisses me off." Ritsu drew his lips to a thin line and wrapped his legs around the raven and proceeded to hit him a few times on the back, hard. Not without a few grunts and more sounds of pain coming from the taller male.

"Man, whenever you get angry like this, I can't tell whether you seriously hate me or you're just kidding around." Masamune groaned as he lifted his head to look at Ritsu, wincing at the sharp pinch of his cheek.

"Shut up. Let me be petty and bring your sorry ass down from your high horse." Masamune simply smiled before he gazed at Ritsu, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek.

"Are we going to put aside the conversation for now? I know we were jumping from different topics, and we still haven't properly cleared up what happened in the past, but I think you're not ready to talk about this for a while, I know for a fact." Ritsu gazed back into amber eyes before turning his head slightly to kiss Masamune's palm.

"I just want to be beside you again." Ritsu admitted softly, accepting the chaste kiss Masamune gave him as Ritsu ran his fingers through his partner's hair as they laid in silence. After this morning, the silence they shared was now comfortable once again and Ritsu honestly was glad they were back to normal, at least slightly, until the time had to come again where they had to lay their feelings bare for the other to see.

Ritsu suddenly felt tired once again, most likely from the warm Masamune was emitting, and by how soft the couch was to lie on, letting his eyes slide shut as he began to drift.

Though it was short-lived when he felt a chuckle erupt from Masamune, and he opened his eyes in confusion as Masamune smiled almost cheekily, and seemed ready to get up from the couch.

"I can't believe you called yourself _Oda Ritsu_."

Masamune was right to ready himself to escape from that couch.

* * *

 **3am spelling is fun lmao**

 **Uhh some things might be a little bit questionable plot-wise? So who knows I might return and rewrite, but this is just fun to let loose my writing creativity huhu**


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